5m Publishing was founded in the late 1990s, by members of the Muirhead family to share the results of their work on pig husbandry. Some of the original books are still available. Through the 2000s the list steadily grew. In 2012 5m was bought by Benchmark Holdings PLC, a multinational animal health company, who drove an expansion into aquaculture books and a reinvigoration of veterinary commissioning.
Further expansions came when the back catalogue of Nottingham University Press was given a home in 2013 when the university ceased publishing activities and by the purchase of Old Pond Publishing in 2014. Benchmark looking to simplify its activities sold a portion of the Old Pond list to Fox Chapel Publishing. 5m’s key staff bought out the remaining book business in 2020 and relaunched as 5m Books.
